I loved my job on board the Titanic, I was so proud to be part of the crew for such an amazing boat but the pantry always gave me terrible headaches due to it being so small. I felt cramped in there, confined, and imprisoned even

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A Night To Remember

    It was a bitterly cold night, and the freezing air was piercing my uniform and stinging my numb flesh like darts. I nervously glanced around making sure that I could not be seen by anyone, as I was worried that I might be caught. I was not supposed to be on this deck let alone to be even seen by a passenger but I had to get out of the pantry. I loved my job on board the Titanic, I was so proud to be part of the crew for such an amazing boat but the pantry always gave me terrible headaches due to it being so small. I felt cramped in there, confined, and imprisoned even, it was a horrid feeling, and what made it even was that the pantry was below sea level. It was terrible in the little pantry there was no room to breath and the unbearable heat made it even worse. It felt like we were going to suffocate if we didn’t get out. The pantry made me feel like my head was spinning and with the unbearable sounds of the side of the boat creaking with the pressure of the water on the other side. It was almost unthinkable that on the other side of that piece of metal was the water of the largest and coldest ocean in the world.

    As I was standing there taking in the night sky and the calm waters I could hear the sound of the huge engines powering away beneath me, shaking the deck that I was standing on. The engines seemed to roar with authority and power, like a lion after it had just captured its prey. To be honest the engines scared me, the thought of anything having that much power and force scared the living daylights out of me.

    I started to think about why I was on the Titanic in the first place. My mother thought that I was taking too big a gamble for it to come off. She said that I was being stupid and that I should stay at home and try to find a wife in Southampton. But she didn’t understand why I was doing it; I was on this ship to make my way in the world and what better place to do it than on the Titanic. I wanted to broaden my horizons and get out into the world, it was the perfect opportunity. Plus the fact that the Titanic was going to New York clinched the deal for me; it was the perfect place to start a new life. I wanted to go to the new world and make my way in it; I wanted to make a difference, and most of all I wanted to make my mother and father proud. Dad, on the other hand, could see exactly why I wanted to go, he was brilliant to me and said the words that will live with me for the rest of my life; “Whatever you do with your life son, your mother and me will always be proud of you”. I could tell that he meant it, we were both nearly in tears standing there, however as we were both men we gathered our thoughts and I went on my way. I was on my way to my destiny and future in the new world.

    The silence was interrupted by two passengers walking in my direction; I could hear their shows knocking on the wooden floor. Thankfully I had heard them in time, so it allowed me to move into the shadows once again. The couple turned off into the bar, still unaware of my presence. I thanked my lucky stars for I had gone very close to being discovered. Once they had gone and I had checked to see that nobody else was coming I slowly moved closer to the railings on the side of the ship and peered over into the darkness that awaited me. The ocean was as calm as a gentle breeze; even with the mighty Titanic powering through the water it seemed motionless and uninterested in the ship. I stared up at the night sky, marvelling in the beauty of the stars, I nearly lost myself in them; they seemed to be guiding me.

    Standing there in that dark cold place it dawned on me what I was doing, I was part of the greatest ship of all time. It took me back to when I first laid my eyes on her; it took my breath away and made the blood in my veins go cold by her very presence. The sheer size and grandeur of her made me miss a beat of my heart, she was magnificent. The black paint on the wood seemed to sparkle and glisten in the Southampton sun, the funnels seemed to stand tall and proud over the rest of the boat as if to say that they were in charge, and then the anchor appeared to look down at me and command respect; it looked like it weighed a ton. The ship seemed to rise out of the water like a God, it seemed to stand tall and proud as if it knew that it was the best ship in the world. It was there and then that an overwhelming amount of pride surged through me; it made me feel important and powerful as I was a part of this ship. I even had a knot in my throat through pride.

    Once again I was brought back to the railings by the sound of someone else’s shoes on the floor. I quickly reeled around hoping to spot whoever the person was before they spotted me. Thankfully to my relief it was one of my friends from in the pantry, Ernest Abbott. He was a young man, only twenty one years, and had thick brown hair which always seemed to stand up no matter what he tried. He had a face that seemed to me to always have a reassurance about it, and a calmness that comforted all men and women who knew him. His eyes though, they were hard, blacker than black. They seemed to stare blindly at you and search your very soul as you stood in front of him. I quite liked Ernest, he was a nice man but I couldn’t stand looking into his eyes for to long, they always made me feel crushed and insignificant. Ernest was a tall chap about six feet and one inch, he wasn’t out of proportion in his height he was just tall. The man himself though was the kindest man you could ever want to meet. He was always sincere, gracious and polite, the model gentleman. I always seemed more comfortable when he was around, I don’t know why; he just seemed to have a calming affect on me. Coincidentally we happened to met each other when we were about to board the ship and had got to know each other from there. He, of course, had his own reasons for being on the Titanic, like all of us though he wanted to go to the new world and find his living. However his main reason for being on the Titanic was that he wanted to get away from his mother and father, he said that they controlled him and would never let him do what he wanted. So when he was given the chance of working on the Titanic he snapped it up.  

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 “Thought I might find you here,” he said to break the silence.

 “Hello,” I replied “Anything I can help you with Ernest?”

 “Actually, there is John; unfortunately you have to come back to the pantry now. Your break is over. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news” Ernest said.

 “Well, you definitely are the bearer of bad news then aren’t you?” I joked.

 “Yes I am but you do have to go back now,” he said again.

 “Ok I am going; I suppose it is your turn now is it?” I asked half heartedly.

 “Yes it is” he said ...

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